It was a relief when the dancing began, for then she could escape thisscrutiny, but when the marquess led her out for the opening minuet it was,in a sense, the first time they had been out of the earshot of otherssince theirsotto vocediscussion at the table. She braced herself for ahostile comment, no matter how sweetly uttered. It did not come.
“You look nervous,” he said. “Have you forgotten the steps?”
“My dear sir,” she retorted, “I was raised in a girl’s school. I havebeen watching, learning and teaching dancing all my life. I could performa minuet in my sleep.”
“Ah,” he said with a mischievous glitter, “but have you ever performedit with a man?”
They were taking their place among the four couples who were to openthe ball with the formal minuet, facing toward the duke and duchess at thehead of the room. “Assuredly,” said Beth. “I frequently gavedemonstrations with Monsieur de Lo, our dancing master.”
“The minueta deux?”he queried.
“Occasionally,” Beth replied, mistrusting his tone.
“That is generally held to be the cause of so many susceptible youngladies falling in love with their dancing masters. All that staring intoone another’s eyes.”
“I assure you ?” Beth’s protest was cut off by the opening chords ofthe music. Along with the other dancers she made obeisance to the duke andduchess. Even as she pointed her right toe and sank slowly down on herleft leg and rose she was aware of the elegance of the marquess’ bow. Aspirit of competitiveness stirred in her. He was well-trained in thecourtly art, but she was, after all, a professional.
They turned to face each other. She watched him carefully. When, as sheexpected, he performed a deeply elaborate full bow, she sank into as deepa court curtsy as her skirt would allow, her eyes correctly on his at alltimes. Then she rose slowly with smooth control. She did not place herhand in his outstretched one until the last moment to make it clear to allthat she needed no assistance in rising.
A ripple of applause ran around the room.
He smiled and a slight inclination of the head gave her the victory.Then he took both her hands and raised them for a kiss while stillmaintaining the eye contact. Beth began to see what he meant. A minueta deux,constantly gazing into the partner’s eyes, could easilyturn a young girl’s head. How fortunate that she was not a young girl andthat they were dancing in a set of eight.
The music proper began and Beth could look away as she and the otherladies moved into the center using the slow and graceful minuet step thenjoined hands to circle. The ladies circled to the right as the gentlemencircled to the left.
Having been so recently a teacher Beth couldn’t help assessingperformances. She could not recollect the name of one young lady, but sheand Miss Frogmorton performed well but with a little more of the bounce ofa country dance than the glide which was necessary. Phoebe Swinnamer wasthe fourth lady and she glided like a swan. She was, however, inclined topose for effect every now and then and thus break the flow.
The ladies broke the circle to join their partners again, left hand toright, continuing the circling for one more step so as to smoothly linkboth hands and circle each other, eye to eye.
“Monsieur de Lo was a very good teacher,” the marquess complimentedher.
“As was your master, my lord,” said Beth kindly. “Though you couldperhaps point your foot a little more.”
He raised a brow. “Are you perhaps accusing me of not being high enoughin the instep, my dear?”
Beth bit her lip to stifle a giggle. They let one hand drop and flowedinto the next movement deliberately holding eye contact as long aspossible. Phoebe Swinnamer looked sour and almost missed a step.
Beth had to admit that her teaching experience and her demonstrationswith Monsieur de Lo had not alerted her to the potential for flirtation inthe stately dance. No, not flirtation. Seduction.
Lady and gentleman moved around each other but never far apart and everaware. They came together, intensely linked by hands and eyes, the slowmovements allowing skilled dancers who did not need to think of theirsteps to linger upon one another like a slow kiss.
Caught by her extraordinary thoughts Beth stared up at the marquess asshe slowly circled him. It was the look in his eyes which was causing allthese ideas.
“We will do a minueta deuxat our wedding ball, Elizabeth.”
“No,” Beth said instinctively.
“But yes. It is the custom!”
The dance separated them again. It seemed very like their lifetogether: brief moments of contact always moving into division. A minueta deuxwould be an appropriate beginning to their marriage, andit was ridiculous to fear it. It would merely be a prelude to the greatertrials of their life together.
After the minuet the dancing became general and much less formal. Bethdanced a country set with the duke. After that, she passed from onepartner to the next, glad to be lost in the dancing instead of pilloriedfor idle curiosity. The young eligibles had been dragooned by the duchessinto doing their duty by the wallflowers, so Beth found herself dancingmainly with the older men, which suited her very well.
Only one gave her a problem. Lord Deveril. He was sallow and bony butwith a kind of brutish strength in his jaw and hands. He also smelt. Notparticularly unwashed ? there were a number of people present who hadobviously not taken up the fashion for cleanliness ? but stale andslightly decayed. It could have mainly been his teeth, for when he smiled,which was rarely, they could be seen to be rotten.
“You must consider yourself a lucky young lady,” he sneered at onepoint. “Not many plain Janes without a fortune find themselves sofavored.”
His manner was so unpleasant that Beth felt free to retort sharply. “Onthe contrary, my lord. The marquess is the fortunate one. Not many youngbucks find themselves a woman of sense.”
